Innovation tax credit (Crédit d'impôt innovation, CII)

What it funds

The credit covers the cost of designing prototypes and pilot installations of new products. The rate applies to that spend, and the annual cap limits eligible spend, not the credit. A new product is a tangible or intangible good not yet available on the market and technically superior to what exists, so software counts. The rule is article 244 quater B of the Code général des impôts, whose paragraph I also governs the research tax credit (CIR), open to companies of any size but only for research with scientific or technical uncertainty.

Requirements and what is left out

• Anyone who is not an SME under the EU definition: paragraph II k, which governs the CII, covers micro, small and medium enterprises only.
• The company must be taxable in France: the credit is set against French tax owed.
• Production-phase costs: the credit covers designing prototypes and pilot installations, not industrialization.
• Service innovation with no technological content: the non-technological part is left out.
• Companies in Corsica and the overseas departments get higher rates, set in the same article.

How to apply

1. Document the design costs and what makes the product new to the market.
2. If you want certainty before spending, ask the tax authority for a rescrit.
3. Fill in form 2069-A-SD and file it with the relevé de solde if the company pays corporate tax, or with the annual results return if it pays income tax.

What this budget builds

The credit rewards the stage where an idea becomes a working prototype. I build the first measurable software product, with architecture, data and tests designed to survive production, and I keep a record of what was designed and why, which is the documentation the filing needs. Choosing between a PoC, a prototype and an MVP decides what belongs to this stage and what is already production.

This entry is informational and is not advice: I do not handle grant applications, and before committing to a purchase it is worth reading the official source above or talking to whoever files the application.